Articles: mechanical-ventilation.
-
Mechanical ventilation can cause acute diaphragm atrophy and injury, and this is associated with poor clinical outcomes. Although the importance and impact of lung-protective ventilation is widely appreciated and well established, the concept of diaphragm-protective ventilation has recently emerged as a potential complementary therapeutic strategy. This Perspective, developed from discussions at a meeting of international experts convened by PLUG (the Pleural Pressure Working Group) of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, outlines a conceptual framework for an integrated lung- and diaphragm-protective approach to mechanical ventilation on the basis of growing evidence about mechanisms of injury. ⋯ Adjunctive interventions, including extracorporeal life support techniques, phrenic nerve stimulation, and clinical decision-support systems, may also play an important role in selected patients in the future. Evaluating the clinical impact of this new paradigm will be challenging, owing to the complexity of the intervention. The concept of lung- and diaphragm-protective ventilation presents a new opportunity to potentially improve clinical outcomes for critically ill patients.
-
Case Reports
Use of a Novel Negative-Pressure Tent During Bedside Tracheostomy in COVID-19 Patients.
Many COVID-19 patients with neurological manifestations and respiratory failure remain dependent on mechanical ventilation and require tracheostomy, which is an aerosol generating procedure (AGP). The risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission to healthcare staff during AGPs is well documented, and negative-pressure rooms are often unavailable. Innovative techniques to decrease risk to healthcare providers during AGPs are necessary. Our objective was to demonstrate the feasibility of percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy (PDT) performed using a novel prefabricated low-cost negative-pressure tent (AerosolVE). ⋯ It is feasible to perform PDT on intubated COVID-19 patients using the AerosolVE negative-pressure tent. This is a promising low-cost device to decrease risk to healthcare providers during AGPs.
-
COVID-19 was initially considered exclusively as a respiratory disease. It now appears that it is also a systemic disease with vascular inflammation and thromboses. ⋯ The treatment of this syndrome, which causes hypoxemia, requires urgent oxygen therapy. While initial recommendations favoured the rapid use of intubation and mechanical ventilation, experience seems to confirm that it must be delayed as long as possible, in favour of non-invasive ventilation, less aggressive for the patient.
-
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is frequently detected in the respiratory tract of mechanically ventilated patients. The aim of this study was to assess current evidence to determine whether antiviral therapy is associated with better outcomes in these patients. ⋯ This meta-analysis of the available data shows that antiviral therapy might result in lower hospital and 30-day all-cause mortality in mechanically ventilated ICU patients who are positive for HSV in the respiratory tract. However, this result must be interpreted with great caution due to the high risk of bias and limited number of patients. Large, well-designed randomized controlled clinical trials are urgently needed.
-
Review
Mechanical ventilation in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: systematic review and recommendations.
Mechanical ventilation (MV) has a complex interplay with the pathophysiology of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). We aim to provide a review of the physiology of MV in patients with aSAH, give recommendations based on a systematic review of the literature, and highlight areas that still need investigation. ⋯ We make recommendations on oxygenation, hypercapnia, PEEP, APRV, ARDS, and intracranial pressure monitoring.